Monthly Archives: June 2015

Rescored from a 4 to a 5. I think about this novel all the time since I’ve read it and I realized that I love it.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is the type of book that you take away what you get out of it, and I got a lot out of it.

5/5 21/25 Possible Score

Plot – 5(Strong)

Characters – 4(Fine)

Setting/World Building – 4(Strong)

Writing Style – 4(Fine)

Heart & Mind Aspect – 4(Strong)

Summary:

Station Eleven is a light science fiction novel with a post-apocalyptic narrative. It deals with a group of people that are loosely connected to each other, that live, or have lived in the area around Toronto’s Great Lakes region. A world wide virus pandemic has occurred and there are not many people left alive. Electricity, gasoline, and many of our modern conveniences are completely gone. However, a small traveling group of individuals, actors and musicians, travel from small outpost city to small outpost city, performing Shakespeare and playing classic music.

As the reader, we get a glimpse into the lives of these people before the pandemic and what has happened to them after the pandemic. Some are in the Traveling Symphony, others are held up in an airport, and some are traveling to find a new home. However, each one of them have something in common, hope.

Review:

First thing I would like mention about Station Eleven is that this book has more in common with literary fiction than science fiction and that is why I called it a light science fiction novel. I guess you could classify it as a dystopian novel but there are just as many chapters about the past, as there are about the present post-apocalypse world. That said, I would expect this book to always be found in the general fiction section of the bookstore and not in the science fiction section of the bookstore.

I really liked Station Eleven. I felt like I was reading a regular fiction book most of the time while reading. I mostly read SFF, so this was a good change of pace for me. The point of view changed often and we got a look into the lives of multiple people. For me, the book really compared and contrasted these people’s lives before and after the post-apocalyptic event happened.

Station Eleven was a book full of theme for me. I got to interpret a lot of what the book was trying to tell me and I really enjoyed that. Many of the books I read are not up for interpretation but Station Eleven definitely is and that is the main selling point for the book. The main theme that I believe the book was trying to get across is that we are more connected to each other than what we think. In our normal life, it is mostly our family, and a few friends that make up our circle of relationships. If that circle was suddenly destroyed, because of a pandemic, the things that tie us to the past with current relationships could be really small. For example, a comic book called Dr. Eleven: Station Eleven connects characters that don’t even actually know each other in a way that gives them hope. A former popular actor, that died just before the pandemic hit, has connections to every one one of our characters. Each one is either related to him, friends, or just mere acquaintances before the pandemic, but after the pandemic, this one person ties this entire group together. I found this message profound, that we are more than family and friends, we are a part of something bigger.

Another important theme in Station Eleven is to preserve art and the past. The Traveling Symphony performs Shakespeare in small little towns, made out of a hotel, or a gas station, and it gives those individuals a reprieve from the life of hardship that they now must endure. Art, even in the most desperate of moments, can lift our spirits, and give us hope for something better. It really showed to me what is really important in life. I can lose electricity, my computer, this blog, but art will remain. My books and stories will still remain in the world. Theater and music will still remain to lift people up.

The last theme I believe Station Eleven is trying to get across to the reader is that it is the small moments in life that matter the most. It is the moments with family and friends that are so important. Working an extra job so that a family can have hi speed internet and a family phone plan is not the most important thing in life. The most important thing in life is spending time with those we love.

I would recommend this book to people when they are in an introspective mood. If you want to read a book that makes you think about life, this is the book for you. This is not the book for you if you want to read an action packed dystopian novel. I thought this was just going to follow a group of actors around performing Shakespeare, but that is a very small part of this book. Learning about these individual’s lives before the pandemic and after was fascinating to me. Many post-apocalyptic books focus on the large overall picture of the world but Station Eleven focused more on the small things. The small things that we take for granted every day and I for one will try not to take them for granted anymore.

The Hero of Ages is a great ending to a fantastic series that, more than anything else, displays Sanderson’s writing discipline.

4/5 20/25 Possible Score

Plot – 4(Strong)

Characters – 4(Strong)

Setting/World Building – 5(Very Strong)

Writing Style – 4(Strong)

Heart & Mind Aspect – 3(Fine)

Summary:

The Hero of Ages is the third book in The Mistborn Trilogy and the end of the world is coming soon. The ashmounts are spewing ash at a larger rate, earthquakes are frequent, the mists are all day and are killing people, and Koloss are ravaging the country side. Vin and Elend are seeking a way to protect the world by finding caches that the Lord Ruler has set up just for this very moment. In these caches are food and supplies, but also instructions on where to find the next cache, and information about what is happening to the world. Sazed is searching for answers himself, with the help of Breeze, when they meet with Spook, a man that used to lack confidence, but has gained all the confidence in the world for some unknown reason. TenSoon is in kandra prison for his actions in The Well of Ascension, but while in prison, he finds out that the kandra know more about what is happening to the world than anyone. An exciting ending that is able to fill in every question that the reader has about this world.

Review:

So my record for this trilogy is that I loved the first book, gave it a 5, and I liked the second book, but it was flawed for me, a 3. I am so happy that the quality of the third book rose above the second book, and every single issue I had with book two was fixed for me. Vin and Elend’s relationship took a backseat to everything else and that made me very happy. In The Hero of Ages we switched view point characters often, with less Vin and Elend. Also, the setting of The Hero of Ages changed often, and that made me happy because I got tired of being stuck in Luthadel in book two. Overall, a much better showing from Sanderson, that I must admit, I had my doubts about after reading book two.

With this review I would like to focus on something specific instead of just rehashing what so many people have said before about a popular book. I want to focus on Sanderson’s writing mechanics when he starts a book and how that ties into creating a fantastic ending to a trilogy. Sanderson writes excessively detailed outlines before he begins his writing. For example, before Sanderson wrote The Mistborn Trilogy he wrote The Way of Kings, a book later published after Mistborn. Before The Way of Kings his books were just not that satisfying for him and he wrote more towards what the market wanted. With The Way of Kings, he decided to just write what he wanted to write, the way he wanted to write it. He created an outline that was 180,000 words, for The Way of Kings, longer than any actual book he has written to that point. He then wrote The Way of Kings, a 300,000 word book, that he had to put on the back burner because no publisher would ever sign a newer author with a manuscript that large. However, The Way of Kings changed the way he approached his books.

The Mistborn Trilogy’s ideas were from a previous group of books he wrote but were never published that he felt were just awful. He took the best parts of those books and created his pre-writing outline. The things he wanted to incorporate into the book, the setting, plot elements, and characters is where he starts. He then starts plugging in interesting points to each of these sections, for example, he puts in mists that you can’t see through for setting, or he puts a group of thieves wanting to overthrow The Dark Lord under plot. From there he’ll add more and more elements until a kind of story is starting to form. The important thing though, is that he cross references everything, so if a character has something important with the mists, he’ll make sure to put both that under mists and that character. He’ll rework a lot of what he thinks up so that they fit in with the story and structure.

Now the fun part begins of trying to figure out what things he should withhold from the reader until it is revealed. The Mistborn Trilogy, especially The Hero of Ages’s pace is really dependent on the reader wanting to find out these mysteries, these truths about the world that have not been shared with the reader. This is what makes a setting/world centered story work, the ability to capture the reader with questions that need answers, and that is what The Mistborn Trilogy really is. What makes The Hero of Ages special is that almost the entire book’s mood is one in which the reader feels like the author is approaching a climax, and that is created mostly by the beginning of answering questions that the author created for the reader.

By outlining the entire book and creating questions out of withholding information, Sanderson creates a setting mystery, that I personally love. I love books like this so much but they really only work when the author knows what these big question and answers are before he begins writing. The author will then sprinkle hints and clues throughout the book to a question the reader is dying to know the answer to. Steven Erikson is also an author that does this extremely well. Peter V Brett also had the hardest time writing his first Demon Cycle book until he switched to this overall outlining.

I believe that Sanderson will get better at this technique of writing, as he writes more books. This type of writing is called architect writing as opposed to gardener writing. Architect writers create the book in the pre-writing phase and then fill in the blanks with scenes when they write. A gardener writer, has a character, or an idea, and sees where that character or idea takes him, as he or she writes. Stephen King is a very famous gardener writer. Where gardener type of writers thrive is on creating complex characters, because they are basically allowing their character to carry their story. This is where Sanderson falters some in his writing. Sanderson’s characters are just another piece of the puzzle and they don’t feel as fleshed out as some writer’s. Because of that The Hero of Ages’ weak spot is that the reader doesn’t get too attached to the characters and slight things that the characters do, might seem annoying because we don’t know them closely enough.

I realize this was a slightly different review of The Hero of Ages, but I find the way that Sanderson writes created the things I loved about The Hero of Ages, and the entire trilogy. The setting and world building, the mystery elements of the world, the unforgettable magic systerm, wanting answers to questions and finally being rewarded, all of these things are as good as they are because of the pre-writing outlines that Sanderson creates. If you would like more information about Sanderson’s writing process check out the following links:

With all its quirks and things that I didn’t really care for, Dune is still an entertaining narrative, especially considering it is 50 years old.

3/5 15/25 Possible Score

Plot – 4(Strong)

Characters – 3(Fine)

Setting/World Building – 4(Strong)

Writing Style – 2(Weak)

Heart & Mind Aspect – 2(Weak)

Summary:

Dune is a story of the exploitation of a planet for its one of a kind spice that makes interstellar travel possible and is highly addictive. Because of the importance of this spice, many different political entities want to control it. When the Emperor decides it is time for one of the many Great Houses, House Atreides, to take over rule of the planet of Dune, from House Harkonnen, conflict ensues. The Harkonnens, led by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, wants to assassinate Duke Leto Atreides, the new ruler of Dune, and Duke Leto knows about the possible assassination, but wants to take advantage of it in a counter-attack.

Paul, Duke Leto’s son, and heir, is being bred by his mother to become the first male Benne Gesserit, a religious group with cognitive abilities, so that Paul can become a leader like none other. The inhabitants of Dune are called the Freman people and they are a very mysterious group that survive in the harshest conditions. When Paul is welcomed into the Freman people’s society, he might possibly be the prophesied savior of the Freman people, and of all Dune.

Review:

It is extremely difficult to review a book that is considered the greatest science fiction book of all time, a book that is loved by so many readers. Dune is a book that was so far ahead of its time when it was released in the 1960’s from all other science fiction because of the intricacies of the plot, the world building, and the complex political system. The connections that Dune has with the real world are the things that master thesis are written about and something that, honestly, I do not have the expertise to talk about. Suffice to say that world conservation, religion, addiction, and natural resources are all something that Dune draws a parallel to our real world. I just don’t have the intelligence nor the expertise to review Dune based off its influence to science fiction and how amazing it was when it was written. I can only review Dune, as a book, read by me today. I understand that Dune is many people’s favorite book, and I understand it’s importance on the influence of science fiction, but I can only review Dune based on my experience, at this moment.

Firstly Dune’s narrative is an engaging story of revenge. I really like the setup that Herbert created for this story. He could have introduced us to the story at many different points, but the introduction was just perfect. There was just enough backstory to get the story moving and then things just start rolling along. The political setup is absolutely fantastic and that is comparing it to current books. It is complex enough to use your brain but not enough to be confusing. The story progresses at an even pace with unforgettable scenes that I will remember forever. The chapters where the Freman people are explained and their riveting response to water was just captivating.

Herbert’s world building is great for even now, 50 years after the book was released. In an age when robots and computers dominated science fiction, Herbert asked what the future would be like if people turned from technology, and embraced religion more. Most of your science fiction turns away from religion but Herbert embraces it. The Freman are an iconic race of desert people that just completely fascinated me. Even though some of their ways may seem barbaric or without reason, it made for a very interesting world.

The part of Herbert’s world I had an issue with is the mysticism of the precognitive mystical abilities. I felt the narrative and world was strong enough without introducing inner-eye, seeing the future, aspects to the main character, that really didn’t offer the reader much. I would have enjoyed the book much more if Paul would have become this powerful leader on his own merit, maybe with some Benne Gesserit manipulation, but without his seemingly “magical” abilities. I just didn’t care for his abilities to see the future and thought it detracted from the story, especially when written randomly in the middle of a scene.

Even though Herbert’s writing was not too outdated, the randomness of the scenes, was something I never got used to. Many times characters would be conversing about one subject and then the subject or point of view would change so drastically that it felt like I missed a line of text. I would go back and reread the previous paragraph, to only find out that Herbert jumped the flow of the scene to something completely different. Many times, the mystical abilities were thrown in the middle of a scene, and that took you completely out of the book. Lastly about Herbert’s writing is that there were descriptions of the setting or characters that was either uncomfortable or just downright odd. The word choices were so jarring at times that it threw me out of the story or made me shake my head in confusion why he would explain something in that way.

Lastly, even though the characters were alright characters, I never became attached to any of them. I was more attached to the planet of Dune than any of the characters. The character I felt like I knew the most and was the most interesting was the antagonist Baron. Paul just wasn’t a likable character for me, and his struggle against the future he saw for his people did not impact me at all.

Overall the heavy use of religion and mysticism just didn’t work for me. I just really didn’t find Paul’s abilities reasonable or explainable to a degree that I was comfortable with. Regardless, I did enjoy the book, and I understand why some people love this book as much as they do. It is a good book, there were just things that were not for me. I am extremely happy to have read and enjoyed this book. A part of me thinks that I should of read this book earlier in my life and I would have appreciate it more. There are so many scenes that will stick with me for a long time.

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb is now my go-to book for critics who think that fantasy can’t be as well written as literature.

5/5 21/25 Possible Score

Plot – 4(Strong)

Characters – 5(Very Strong)

Setting/World Building – 3(Fine)

Writing Style – 5(Very Strong)

Heart & Mind Aspect – 4(Strong)

Summary:

Ship of Magic deals with the lives of people that live on a coast and are ship traders. The Vestrits are an old family of traders that own a liveship, a ship that is sentient. The father of the Vestrits is on his death bed and must die aboard the liveship, Vivacia, to allow the ship to come alive completely. Althea is a late teenage girl that has been on Vivacia for many years, sailing with her father. Just recently, because of Althea’s father’s illness, the captain position was given to Kyle, Althea’s step-brother. Kyle, a non-blood Vestrit, believes it is his duty to get the Vestrit family out of debt any way he possibly can. After the father dies, Kyle takes control of the family, and orders Althea off the ship, replacing her with his son, Wintrow. Wintrow is training to be a priest and he does not want to be a sailor, but Kyle makes him quit the priesthood and join the Vivacia. Althea, now without her ship must find a way to take back the Vivacia from Kyle.

Kennit is a pirate that has a lot of luck on his side. His goal is to become the pirate king of the Pirate Isles. To solidify his position as the pirate king, he wishes to commandeer a liveship, a feat thought impossible.

Ship of Magic is a heavily character centered family drama, story about an ambitious pirate, mystical outsiders, and menacing water-serpents.

Review:

Ship of Magic is one of those special fantasy novels. Robin Hobb’s writing style is in full display of brilliance in this novel. It reminds me of family dramas from the likes of Dostoevsky and Franzen. Unlike The Farseer Trilogy, this trilogy is written in limited third person view point. The writing style is very classic in approach, long dialogues, long descriptions, and detailed accounts of scenes. A scene of dialogue between the Vestrit family members can take an entire chapter in length, about 20-25 pages for a mostly dialogue scene to develop. This writing style might not be for everyone but I find the detailed discussions and character view points to be completely engrossing.

Robin Hobb is one of the best character writers in fantasy and book one of The Liveship Trader series shows how great she is. Every single character is flushed out completely, including the liveships. We know intimately Hobb’s characters and all of their flaws. Some characters are easy to hate, but their reasoning might be completely legitimate. Like real people, these are messy individuals, that make a lot of bad choices, and react badly to circumstances. What is the most remarkable part of these characters is that every single point of view character’s story is engaging. There is not one character that I liked reading about more than any other.

Another thing that struck me while reading Ship of Magic is the overall theme of the ramifications of your choices. Each character makes seemingly insignificant choices that impacts their life drastically. One bad reaction to a discussion or one word spoken out of character, and it changes their entire story. I found this incredibly realistic to real life. I’ve learned in my life that it is my reactions to circumstances and not really the circumstances themselves that change my life tremendously, and Ship of Magic brings this aspect of life out perfectly.

The world building is relatively slow but there are many mysteries that are making me excited about picking up the future books. The ship and sailing sections of the book are well researched and interesting. The plot is solid but I hope that more variables are added into the story to allow more randomness. I felt that this first book was rather safe as far as plotting went, and I was really looking for a change or a twist during the story, so most of the plot is rather predictable. Also, I found that Hobb didn’t explain distance between the ports and how much time had elapsed that great.

I highly recommend Ship of Magic for readers that want a very detailed character driven book. This isn’t the type of book with wizards throwing around fireballs and crazy antics by thieves to steal a powerful amulet of power. It isn’t an exciting fantasy book with a lot of action and that might bore some readers. This is a family drama set in a fantastical world with an extremely detailed writing style that just worked for me.

Here is a secret: I like vampires still and Christopher Buehlman has written one of the best vampire books I’ve ever read.

4/5 20/25 Possible Score – Audiobook Review

Plot – 4(Fine)

Characters – 4(Strong)

Setting/World Building – 5(Very Strong)

Writing Style/Narration – 4(Strong)

Heart & Mind Aspect – 3(Fine)

Summary:

The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman is a vampire tale that brings vampires back to classic form. In 1978 New York, a vampire named Joey Peacock is enjoying his life as a vampire, and he is telling us his story. Turned when he was just 14 years old, back in the 30’s, he lives with a group of vampires together in the abandon areas of the New York subway. Joey enjoys going out to discotheques and punk clubs, to charm women with his special vampire charming to feed. Joey even has a family that he visits every week to feed on and watch soaps with. Joey Peacock is an incredibly sarcastic, insolent, but hilarious vampire that is just likable. His vampire group leader is Margaret, a tough as nails Irish vampire, that actually turned Joey. Things are going as usual, sleep during the day, feed at night, make sure no one finds out about them, when a mysterious group of extremely young vampires are seen. It is looked down upon to turn children into vampires and these children are deadly. Where Joey’s group doesn’t kill people when they feed, these kid vampires are brutal. Not only do the children vampires kill people, they are incredibly creepy, and their origins are shrouded in mystery.

Review:

I was in the mood for a horror book and someone suggested The Lesser Dead by Buehlman. I decided to listen to the audiobook so that I could experience the tension in the scenes more. The first thing I notice about the audiobook is that the author is narrating it. I love when authors narrate their own work because what they have in their minds eye comes out more clearly in their performance than paid narrators. Sometimes the author narrating just doesn’t work out but Buehlman does fantastic. Each character is alive, real, and distinctive. Every character has their own speech pattern and accent.

This is a first person story told from the point of view of Joey Peacock. Buehlman has written an incredibly sarcastic and insolent character with Joey Peacock. His opinions on things are not politically correct but he is absolutely hilarious. If you enjoy main characters like Dr. House or Sherlock(BBC) that are just jerks at times, you’ll like Peacock. If you don’t like Peacock’s personality than this book probably will not work for you. I would suggest you read samples and listen to audiobook samples so that Peacock’s personality is shown to you. I personally found him to be hilarious and this is the most I laughed from an audiobook.

The story that Buehlman has crafted is just so spot on and original. He gives us so much background and characterization for us to know our main character really well and how he feels about all the other characters too. By the time we are introduced to the main storyline, we already know Joey Peacock really well. The book is written and narrated beautifully. So much of the book seems to mimic Peacock’s character that you forget sometimes that this isn’t a real person telling you his story. You definitely forget that this is the author telling you a story. The story is just really well crafted and executed.

The highlight of this book is the setting and world building that Buehlman has created. The pop culture references and research to make this book feel like the 1970’s is phenomenal. New York in the late 70’s was really grimy and dirty. You can almost feel the dirt and sleaziness while Peacock walks you into a punk club. The mythos and vampire backstory that Buehlman has created is one of the best that I’ve read. It is just as strong as Anne Rice’s books, Buffy mythos, or any other popular culture vampire media. It is just amazing to read about vampires, being vampires, and not falling in love with humans. This is a mature book about real vampires.

I highly recommend this horror book to anyone looking to try to get back into horror. It is a hilarious read with a lot of creepy moments. Those vampire kids will be giving me nightmares for awhile. The audiobook was just fantastic. I absolutely loved the characters and found the setting to be top notch. Beuhlman has the ability to be one of the best horror writers of this new generation of horror writers and I will definitely be checking out more of his work. Beuhlman’s kind of horror reminds me a lot of Scalzi’s kind of sci-fi. Check this book out.